Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. Harriet Van Horne

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Happy Valentines Day! I hope you are spending the day celebrating with loved ones and eating just a little too much chocolate. This is a quick and spicy recipe to put some real food in your belly before you unwrap one more chocolate kiss.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the ground beef, half of the minced onion, 1 tsp salt and the chipotle chile powder; cook, stirring and breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until the meat is browned and the onion is tender, about 7 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, beans and zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is just tender, about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss the coleslaw mix, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.

Divide the tostadas among plates and spoon the beef mixture on top. Top with cheese, slaw and remaining minced onion. Serve with lime wedges.

I used a heaping tsp of the chipotle chile powder, and it was plenty spicy for us. It just depends on how spicy you’d like you’re mixture to be. This is great quick recipe for a weeknight meal.

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Do you guys get as excited as I do to try new recipes? I can read a cookbook like a novel, drinking in details, picturing how the flavors will meld together and hoping when I make the dish it’ll be better than I imagined. Each week I shift through cookbooks, and notebooks full of recipes waiting for something to jump out at me and say “This is the week! It’s my turn!”. These tacos shouted loud and did not disappoint.

Place chicken in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add 1 tblsp soy sauce to bag; seal. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Place 1/4 c cornstarch in a shallow dish. Sprinkle the chicken evenly with salt. Add chicken to cornstarch in dish and toss chicken to thoroughly coat. Shake off excess cornstarch.

Heat a large skillet over med-high heat. Add 1 tblsp canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add half of coated chicken; saute for 6 minutes or until done, turning to brown. Remove chicken from pan using a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Repeat the procedure with remaining oil and chicken.

Toast tortillas under broiler or on a griddle until lightly blistered, turning frequently. Place 2 tortillas on each of 4 plates; divide chicken mixture evenly among tortillas. Top each taco with green onions and bell pepper strips; serve with lime wedges.

Oh man was this a killer meal. We all loved these tacos and the boys are ready for me to make them again. I just have to remember the 30 minute marinade ahead of time so we’re not eating a super late dinner. 😉

Place the zucchini, peppers and onion on a sheet pan. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and toss well. Bake for 15 minutes. Add the garlic, toss again and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, parmesan, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.

In a 10-inch ovenproof saute pan, melt the butter and saute the scallions over med-low heat for 1 minute. Add the roasted vegetables to the pan and toss with the scallions. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and cook for 2 minutes over med-low heat without stirring. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake the frittata for 2- to 30 minutes, until puffed and set in the middle. Sprinkle with the gruyere and bake for another 3 minutes, until the cheese is just melted. Cut into 6 or 8 wedges and serve hot.

This puffed up and was beautiful. The changes I make next time? Less oil on the veggies. 1/4 c or less would be fine. Stir the veggies and the eggs when added to the pan. Since I didn’t do this, the veggies all stayed at the bottom like a vegetable crust; which isn’t bad, but it didn’t match the picture. Another great recipe for a special Saturday breakfast!

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cooke the chicken in a pot of simmering water until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes; let cool, then shred. (I diced mine.)

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring until they begin to soften, 6 to 8 minutes (do not let them darken). Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring for 1 minute.

Add the wine and cook until evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the milk and simmer until the sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken, peas, thyme, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Transfer to a shallow 1.5 to 2-quart baking dish.

Lay the crust on top, pressing to seal. Cut several vents in the crust. Place the pot pie on a baking sheet and bake until bubbling and the crust is golden, 30 to 35 minutes.

What a wonderful and easy dinner. Took a little over an hour for prep to dinner, and it was so good. I don’t think I’ll ever want or need to learn how to make pie crust, Pillsbury does it better than I ever could.

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My poor meat and potatoes husband. I keep feeding him these vegetarian meals. If he doesn’t love the dish, his comment will usually be “This’d be better with some chicken in it.” Fortunately, this lasagna didn’t get the chicken comment.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, broccoli, 2 cups of the mozzarella, 1/4 c Parmesan, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. In a small bowl, combine the marinara sauce and cream.

Spoon a thin layer of the sauce into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish. Top with 2 noodles, a quarter of the remaining sauce, and a third of the broccoli mixture; repeat twice. Top with the remaining 2 noodles and sauce. sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 c of mozzarella and 1/4 c of Parmesan.

Cover tightly with an oiled piece of foil and bake until the noodles are tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

Broccoli, cheese and noodles – what could be better? The heartiness of the broccoli stands up to the richness of the sauce with cream. Total prep and cook time is about an hour and half, but so worth the effort!

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Divide the oil between 2 rimmed baking sheets. Dividing evenly, arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on the baking sheets and turn to coat in the oil; season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.

Bake the eggplant, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until soft and beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes; let cool. Reduce heat to 400 degrees. – I only have one rimmed baking sheet, so this took me 3 rotations in the oven. I lined the baking sheet with parchment and discarded after each round.

Meanwhile, in the bottom of a 9×13 inch or some other 3-quart baking dish, spread 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, oregano, 1 cup of the mozzarella, and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper.

Place about 3 tblsp of the ricotta mixture on one end of a slice of eggplant, roll it up, and transfer it to the prepared baking dish. Repeat with the remaining eggplant slices and ricotta mixture.

Top the eggplant rolls with the remaining cup of marinara sauce and the remaining cup of mozzarella. Sprinkle with the Parmesan.

Bake until the cheese has melted and the sauce is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

I need to find some better descriptors for the way food tastes. Just saying “Yummo!” all the time is boring. But this one? Super Yummo! Even my meat & potatoes husband liked it.

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I remember having bok choy all the time growing up, mostly in my mom’s stir fry. I’ve been wanting to try this recipe, but wasn’t sure if I could find bok choy in Mid-TN. And when I did find it at Kroger, the cashier asked me about a hundred questions. What is this? Whatcha gonna do with it? What does it taste like? I answered as best I could and got home.

In a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker, combine the onions, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, bay leaf and 1/4 tsp pepper. Place the chicken on top and sprinkle with the paprika.

Cook, covered, until the chicken and onions are tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high 4 to 5 hours.

Twenty minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.

Ten minutes before serving, if the slow cooker is on the low setting, turn it to high. Gently fold the bok choy into the chicken and cook, covered, until tender 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with rice and sprinkle with scallions.

The following tip is included with the recipe: You may be familiar with Latin American adobo, which is a spicy mix of chipotle and tomatoes. This Filipino version refers to a dish of meat stewed with vinegar, soy sauce, and paprika. You can easily substitute spinach or chard for the boy choy.

This is a fun and super easy weeknight dinner. Throw it in the crockpot in the morning and dish it out for dinner. Plus you get to answer a bunch of fun questions from cashiers when you buy bok choy!

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine broth, salt, pepper and soup in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add soup mixture to chicken mixture, toss. Divide mixture evenly between two 8 inch baking dishes coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/2 c cheese over each casserole. Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. I put the whole thing in a 13×9 pan and followed time listed for baking.

As you can see by an empty pan, this casserole went over fairly well. 😉 All the ingredients and flavors came together very well. It’s a great casserole to feed a crowd, or to bake one and freeze one for later.

Combine broth, wine and tomato paste in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Place ribs, celery, carrot, garlic, rosemary and onion in a 13×9 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour broth mixture over rib mixture. Cover with foil; bake at 300 degrees for 3.5 hours or until ribs are very tender.

Add flour to pan, stirring well with a whisk. Place pan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Serve sauce with ribs and noodles. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Holy Cow. This was just about the best birthday dinner ever. I used boneless short ribs, so total cooking time was 2 hours 45 min. The meat was fork tender. The sauce was rich. And adding grilled asparagus? A perfect compliment.